New Student
by sunshinyday
Summary: Theres a new student in town! And it seems he likes Tenten...is this what it will take for Neji to realise he may like her too?
1. Chapter 1

I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! ( if I did, you would see a LOT more of Itachi)

"Come on and take it off, take it off! You gotta take it off baby for me!!"  
"Uhhhh Tenten…we're going to be late for class"

She opened her eyes. Neji was at her window, like he was everyday since they had started school. He lived next door to her, and their windows were right in front of each other. Ever since they has found out they were in the same class, their parents made them walk to school together. Now they were in high school, and over the years had become best friends.

Neji felt she was the only person he could really talk to, really trust. Also, Tenten was fun, and she wasn't like all those other girls who only cared about their looks : she was all natural and that's what made her beautiful.

Tenten, on the other hand, liked Neji because although everyone referred to him as the "human ice cube" he really was nice in the inside and she could tell him all her secrets. Plus, he was fun .

Anyways, she grabbed her bag, motioned for him to come in, and they went down the stairs and out the front door. It was a really sunny day, and she was in a really good mood. As they started to walk, Neji noticed she kept smiling to herself.

"So, what's making you so happy today?"

Tenten giggled."Well, Ino called me last night and told me that there would be a new student today, some guy from France! Also, she told me he would be in our history class! I can't wait to meet him" she exhaled.

"Oh, it's only that?"  
"Nejiiiiiiii-kunnnnn!! This is really cool, try to at least pretend you care!" He smiled.  
"Yeah, yeah, I care. I guess I'm just not into French guys that much. "

She slapped his shoulder.  
"Fine, be funny. I still think it's cool! I just hope he doesn't like tall girls…" Neji looked at her. It was true, Tenten was shorter than most of the other girls. But, being like her big brother and always feeling he needed to protect her, he would always defend her if anyone dared say anything about it.

"Well, we'll see in a minute now won't we?" They had arriver in front of the school gates. Like always, Ino, Sakura, Temari, and Hinata (in my story, Hinata and Neji don't live in the same house) ran up to Tenten and gave her a huge hug.

"Hey Neji", they said, and gave him a hug too. At the beginning of the year, Tenten, feeling the awkwardness between him and her friends, had installed a rule that they had to say hello and goodbye to each other every day. She hoped they would become friends. It hadn't really worked yet, but she was still hoping it would be all right by the end of the year.

"Hey, ummmm so where are Naruto and stuff?" He asked politely.  
"Over there" Ino said, as she pointed to the group of guys who were all crowding around Choji.  
"Thanks" he said, and went for the group.

"Nejiiii!! Oh my, I can't look at it! It defies all youthfulness! Neji, make them stop! Burn it, destroy it, get it out of my sight!!" It was Rock Lee.

Neji pushed him away with a look of disgust. What was he talking about? He could hear Lee sniffling in the background, and he decided to look at the thing that seems to be captivating all of them.

" I found it in my sisters room" said Choji. It was a condom.  
"Umm…you guys DO know what that is right? You do also you it's not the end of the world, and that if any of you had the least bit of dignity you wouldn't be amazed at seeing this."

"Oh shut up, don't act all superior to us" It was Kiba.  
"Pfff…just so you know I --

"Ummmm, Hello fellow high schoolers. "

They all turned around. There was this guy standing by the tree, looking at them. He had short red hair and dark bags under his eyes. He had the sign that meants "love" on his forehead, and …he didn't have any eyebrows.

" I am new student here in Japan. My name is Gaara".


	2. Chapter 2

There was an awkward silence.

" Ummmmm, hi." said Sakura. "I'm Sakura, and these are my friends Ino, Tenten, and Hinata. Those are the guys." she said, pointing at them

" Yeah, I think he can see that." Sakura got a frustrated look on her face.  
" Yes, thank you Kiba." He stuck his tongue out to her.  
" She thinks she's always right, he explained, and sometimes i feel i have to pop her bubble"  
" Maybe I am always right" she said challengingly  
" Well you're not"  
" Yes I am!"  
" Not you're not!"  
" YES I AM!!"  
" NO YOU'RE NOT!!" They lunged for each other.

" Ughh you make me so mad sometimes! " Sakura yelled as she smacked him in the face. Kiba just lay there, unconscious.  
" Well dat's very...interesting." said Gaara.  
" Yes it is, isn't it," said Ino as she glared at Sakura. She looked at Gaara and fluttered her eyelashes.

" Uh oh, here she goes again." said Shikamaru.

" So anyways, she said still looking at him, how did someone so mature and civilised end up here? I mean, we can't exactly compare to the great ' Paris ' , now can we!" She added an exagerrated laugh.  
" It's because of my fadder's ( father's) work, you see. We travel much, my family and I."

" Wow, I wish I could do that! I've lived here my whole life. My father says he could never leave the flower shop! " she said, pouting.  
" Flowers are a sign of beauty, and I fink owning a flower shop shows much on one's personality." he said. She stared at him with wide eyes.  
"Wow, you're amazing" she said.

" Ummm yeah, sorry to intrude on this ' wonderful' conversation of yours, but if we stay here any longer we're going to be late for class". added Shikamaru.  
" Yes, you're right, Ino said. Well, we have history together second period, see you then!"  
She blew Gaara a kiss and ran to catch up with Kiba, who was heading for the infirmary.  
" What a very strange girl" he said. Since Ino was gone, and was no longer monopolizing him, everyone presented themselves.

" Well I'm very happy to see that there are so many nice people in my new school!, he said with a smile on his face, and it is also nice to see that there are so many pretty girls!" he added, glancing at Tenten.

She saw this and started to blush. Neji looked at him, then at her, and got this annoyed look on his face.  
Who was this guy? Why was he looking at her like that? He decided he would talk to her about it this afternoon, when they walked home together.

" Earth to Neji! We have class now!" It was Tenten, who was standing in front of him and waving her hands. " I don't want to be late, we have math and I didn't do my homework…oops…" she started to laugh stupidly.

" You're pathetic" said Sasuke. She stopped laughing and looked at him.

" Well if you ask me, someone who hides all their feelings away is way more pathetic than someone who laughs at her own jokes!" There was a long silence. She had just said she laughed at her own jokes and was really embarrassed. Then she remembered she had class.

" Well, I gotta go. See you guys at lunch!" Neji watched as she ran towards the building, tripped on the stairs, and starting laughing at herself again.

She was still the same old Tenten, that was for sure. Then why did he feel like something was about to change?


	3. Chapter 3

As Tenten sat down in math class, she realized two things:

- First of all, she was in the wrong classroom.

- Second of all, that Gaara guy had smiled at her, which had made her feel really special. I mean, hello?? He was French, hot, and had said she was pretty. No one had ever said that to her before!

Anyways, she got up and went to the right classroom, where she sat next to Lee.  
" Tenten! There you are! Where were you?" he asked.

" I…ummmm… went to the bathroom" she said.

" Oh ok. I thought you had gotten hurt! I was so worried!" he have her a hug. This made her smile, and she thought of all the fun times she had had with him. This guy was weird, that's for sure, but he was also really sweet and funny. He, along with Tenten and Pookie ( Tenten's cat) were the only people who had been able to really befriend Neji.

After math class, Tenten remembered that now she had history, and that Gaara was going to be there! As she walked into the classroom, she saw Ino saving her a seat at their usual place. Gaara was sitting right behind them. She sat down and Ino immediately started telling her about how Kiba had gotten into a fight with the infirmary lady, who had decided to get her revenge by making him take half a pack of laxatives.

" It was disgusting, we was pooing all over the place and the janitor made him go home after what he found in the bathrooms!!" she started laughing maniacally.

" You're disgusting, you know that?" said Tenten. Although thinking about it made her wanna laugh too.

That's when the teacher ( Kakashi) walked in.  
" Now everyone, take out a piece of paper and a pen, and find something quiet to do while I finish this chapter". He ordered.

Everyone did as they were told.

" So isn't Gaara just the most amazing guy you've ever met???" Ino whispered to her.

" Umm…yeah he seems really nice!" she answered.  
" That's it? You're so weird! I mean for once we have a really hot guy in our school, well apart from Sasuke you know!" she giggled.  
Just then, a piece of paper fell on Tenten's table. She opened it up, and read :

" Comme l'amour et la beauté,  
Jen n'arrive pas a decrire  
Ce que tu me fait ressentir"

Gaara

She stared at it wide-eyed. Then, Ino grabbed it from her hands and started to read it.  
"What does this mean?!? Wait, who sent this to you?" she asked.  
" Ino don't be stupid, its written at the bottom." Tenten sweatdropped.

" Oh right!" Ino giggled. " And what does it mean?"

" Like for love and for beauty, words cannot describe how you make me feel." They turned around and saw Gaara. He was staring straight at Tenten. She started to blush and turned around.  
"Wow, that is like so romantic! Why did you send it to her?" she asked.

" Because I think she is beautiful and unique." He simply answered. Ino got this angry look on her face and was about to say something when Kakashi yelled.

" Hey you guys in the back! Stop talking, I can't concentrate over here!" Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at them. Ino turned around and muttered a 'sorry' that absolutely no one heard. She took out a piece of paper and wrote something down, then passed it down to Tenten:

' OMG!!! He totally likes you!! This is great, I have to hook you guys up! But if it doesn't work out, he's mine! Lol'

'Ahhhh this is so weird! I don't know what to do! Does this really mean he likes me, or does he just do this to any girl? I mean he seems nice and all, but kind of on the weird side at the same time!'

' Ok look as far as I know, he didn't send me one! This means he really likes you! Damn you're so lucky! '

Tenten was about to answer when the bell rang. Everyone went out of the classroom. Neji was there, waiting for her. He smiled at her and motioned for her to come.

" Neji!!!! What are you doing here?" she asked.

" Well there was an accident in one of the science classes and everyone has to go home while they clean it up" he answered.  
" Huh? What happened?" Just as he was about to answer that question, an evil looking science teacher walked by holding Naruto by the shirt. Sakura was walking next to him, looking really annoyed. Naruto was laughing.

" I don't care what happens, that was worth it!! " he yelled. Sakura looked at him.  
" You…are such…an idiot…" she said.  
There was an awkward moment.  
" Oh, I see, Tenten said kind of to herself , well lets just go home then!"

" All right, let me just go get my stuff. Oh and I have something to tell you after, ok?"  
" Ok!"


	4. Chapter 4

As they walked home, Tenten couldn't stop thinking about what had happened today. Guys never really looked at her,so it just felt weird.

Since she was in a really good mood, she was singing the "kung fu fighting" song, and randomly kicking the air.

Neji looked at her and sweatdropped.

" Hum, she's in her kung fu fighting mood, something really good must have happened today" he thought. He looked at her, who had started punching the air.

" Anyways, he started, you know I wanted to tell you something, remember?" She stopped what she was doing and looked at him.

" Uh huh!" she answered.  
" Ok well, I just wanted to warn you that I don't think this Gaara guy is up to any good. After you left , I saw him talking to this weird guy behind a tree, and he handed him this whole roll of

money. And then I met his sister, and she asked me where he was. When I told her, she said got this annoyed look on her face, and said " Oh no not again!" .

" Ohh." He looked at her. She had this sad look on her face. He hated being the one to kill her good moods .  
" Well I'm not saying it's bad… I'm just saying I want you to be careful ok?"  
" Ok" she nodded her head. She still looked depressed. 

Since he was feeling guilty, he decided to make things better. He looked through his bag and started to take something out. Tenten saw this and her face lit up.  
" Neji… Is it…?"  
" Yup!!" He pulled out a little stuffed animal. " It's Mr. Pillows!"  
Mr. Pillows was a little sheep that Tenten had made Neji for his birthday in fourth grade. It was small, and really fat. He looked more like a ball than a sheep, and he had four small pudgy legs. He had two tiny ears, and his eyes weren't the same size.

When Tenten had given it to Neji, he had looked at it weirdly.  
" Do you like it?!" she had asked him.  
" Yeah he's, he's kinda cute I guess." He had answered.

She had got an angry look on her face, and put her hands on her hips.  
" Neji Hyuga! Tell me the truth! Do you like Mr. Pillows of not?" He had gotten kind of scared. The truth was, he loved it, and it was the best present anyone had ever given him. He looked up at her and smiled.

" Yeah, I love him." Tenten's face had lit up and she had jumped on him to give him a huge hug. Ever since then, Neji carried it around in his bag and would take it out if ever Tenten got sad, to remind her that no matter what was wrong, he was there for her.

" Well I'll be careful, ok?" she looked at him and smiled.

" Well, here we are." They were in front of her house. She walked up to her doorstep, and turned around to wave goodbye like she always did. Except when she got up there, she tripped on something and fell on the floor. Neji ran up to her and picked her up, then turned to see what the thing was.

It was a giant bouquet of flowers. On it was a little note that said " Tomy beautiful little princess, love Gaara". He frowned. This was really weird. Tenten, on the other hand, looked really happy. 

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, so pretty!!" she said jumping around and smelling each flower. She looked up at Neji and smiled at him.

" Well I'm late, I should better go home. See you tonight, ok?" he asked.  
" Ok!" he left her there inspecting the flowers.

----------------------------------

Right after dinner, Tenten went into her room and changed into her PJs. She lay down on her bed and started to pet Pookie. Since she was bored, she looked through her DVDs and took out The Grudge.

" Hummm, I've never seen this before" she thought to herself. She put the CD into her computer and turned off the light.

Halfway through the movie, when we see the sister watching the surveillance camera tapes and see the dead girl, someone grabbed her arm.

" AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" she screamed.  
" AHHHHHHHHHH" the person screamed back at her. She took the person and brutally put them on the floor, then pinned one of their arms painfully behind their back. Then she turned on the light, only to see Neji there lying on her floor.

" Neji??" she asked?  
" Tenten…" he said with an extremely annoyed look on his face.  
" I'm so sorry! I was watching the grudge and I got scared and then you grabbed my arm and- " she ran towards him.

" Where did you learn to do that?" he asked, rubbing his arm.  
" I took self defense classes at camp, she answered, pretty neat huh?"  
" Yeah…I guess…Anyways I'm sorry if I scared you, I just came over 'cause I thought I heard weird noises coming from your room, like you were getting killed or something."

" Oh no, that was just the TV! Hey, you wanna watch it with me?" She did puppy eyes.  
" Ok" he answered.

After the movie had ended, Neji went onto her balcony and jumped onto his, which was only a few feet away. He got into bed and turned on all the lights. As he was about to close his eyes…

" Neji?" It was Tenten.  
" Yeah?" he answered back. They could hear each other really well.

" I'm kinda freaked out right now" she said.  
" Well sorry about that. Don't worry you won't die." He said.

"Well how do you know that for sure? Can you just come here please?" she asked. He groaned and slowly got out of bed. He went onto her balcony and walked into her room.

"Come come!" she patted her bed. He sat down on it, and just then Pookie came and lay down on him.

"You're so annoying, you know that right?" He asked while smiling at her.

" Yeah, I know! Hehe" she answered laughing.

They started to talk. Well actually it was mostly her talking and him listening, but he enjoyed it anyways. She always had something to say, and most of the time it was interesting too.

After a while, she started to fall asleep, and a few minutes later the talking stopped completely. He looked at her. She looked so cute, all huddled up into a ball, smiling and hugging her teddy tight. He lifted the cover higher over her, and started to get up. Then he remembered something and looked down. Pookie was sleeping on his laps. He tried to pick him up, but seeing as this was the fattest cat in the history of the world, it was really hard, even for muscular Neji. He rolled him off ( he was still sleeping) and put him next to Tenten.

He got back into his room and lay back down.

" Goodnight, Tenten."


	5. Chapter 5

When Tenten woke up, she knew today was going to be a bad day. It was raining out, and she had left her window open all night : which meant her schoolbag was all wet.  
She crawled out of bed and fell on the floor, put on her slippers and headed to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, then went back to her room to get dressed.  
When that was done, she made her bag ( which was all soggy) and headed downstairs. Neji was at her door and looked annoyed.

"We're going to be late." He said.  
" Yeah, I got that" she glared as she walked past him and out the door.  
" Ok…" he felt bad.  
By the time he caught up with her, she had already walked half way to go to school.  
" Tenten, whats wrong?"he asked her softly.  
" I'm just in a bad mood, leave me alone!" she snapped at him.  
" It's not my fault! Don't take it out on me!" he said.  
" See, that's the problem with you! You only care about yourself!" she screamed and ran away. He sweatdropped. If she hadn't seemed so serious about it he would have laughed. This was one of the many things he didn't get about girls: it seemed whenever they were in a bad mood, they took it out on the one person who could possibly help them. It didn't make any sense. But then again, girls didn't make any sense ( especially Tenten).

When he got to school, the first thing he saw was all his friends huddled up in a group looking up at something on the wall. When he got there he saw what it was: it was a paper announcing that everyone who was in fourth period gym class would be going on a one-week ski trip!  
" That's not fair! It's not fair!!!" he turned around. There was Naruto, arms crossed and looking really mad.  
" Everyone except for me gets to go! It's not fair!!" he yelled.  
Sakura sweatdropped. " Naruto…you're coming too."  
" No Im not, it says it here: fourth period gym class." He pointed to the paper.  
" Yeah, I know. You're in fourth period gym class." She said looking aggravated.  
" Right… WERE GOING SKIING!!!!" he shouted. He ran around and started to hug everyone. Neji had an idea. This should probably cheer Tenten up! He started looking for her.

He walked down the hallway. If he told her this, she might forget she had ever been mad at him. He was about to start running when he heard her voice coming from inside one of the rooms. He walked in. There was Tenten and Gaara talking.  
" Vell, ze truth is I have never actually gone skiing before." Gaara said.  
" Really? I love skiing! I've been going since I was three! The weird thing is…I'm actually very bad at it. But I still love it." She said, starting to stare off into space.  
" Anyways, I am very happy to be going with class" he said smiling.  
" Yeah, me too. " she smiled back. She turned around and saw Neji.  
" Hey , did you hear? ( she had completely forgotten she had been mad at him).  
"Yeah, I just saw the paper." He answered.  
" Oh, Gaara here told me about it! I changed my mind, today actually is a good day!" She looked so happy.  
Neji was about to say something when Sakura ran to Tenten, whispered something in her ear, and they both ran out. Neji looked at Gaara, Gaara looked at Neji. There was an awkward silence. Then Gaara started walking towards the door. As he passed Neji, he said to him :  
" Tenten seems very happy about the trip." Then he whispered:  
" Do not try to get between us, Hyuga, or you'll regret it."

He left Neji there, wondering how he could possible explain this to Tenten, because there was no way he was letting her get together with this guy.


	6. Chapter 6

Neji sat in English class, thinking. Sasuke, who sat next to him, was scribbling things down in his notebook when suddenly he looked up at him with one eyebrow raised.

" What's wrong, Hyuga."  
" Nothing, nothing." Neji answered dismissively.

Sasuke put his pen down on the table and turned to his neighbor.

" Look I know we're not best friends but I can still tell when something's wrong. I know Tenten's your best friend and therefore she's the person you always turn to with your problems but there are some things you can only talk about with other men. "

He stared at him, waiting for an answer.

When Neji thought about it, Sasuke would be the only person to tell. He wouldn't scream it out loud, like Naruto, have to explain it a million times over, like Choji, turn it into something perverted, like Kiba, and over analyse him like Shikamaru.  
But still, he was Neji, and Neji wasn't the kind of person who would admit that someone had threatened him. Not ever.

" Nothing's wrong, really." He answered simply.

Sasuke didn't press the matter and went back to his scribbling.

The day seemed long. He couldn't wait for it to end, so he could walk home with Tenten and make sure she was ok.

Because seriously, what that French dude had told him did NOT reassure him.

When the last bell finally rang, he quickly walked outside to find Tenten waiting for him under the tree, their usual meeting spot.

Except this time, she wasn't alone.

Yup, you guessed it. Standing right there, hand slowly edging towards hers, was Gaara. Tenten was laughing, and Gaara was staring at her longingly.

Neji jogged up to them, causing Gaara to glare venomously at him.

" Tenten, we have to go. I'm in a hurry. "  
" But…can't we just stay a bit longer? Gaara here was just telling me about the time he stopped a man who had stolen something from the Louvre! " she whined.

Gaara smirked up at him.

" Yes, Neji, don't you vant to hear ze story?"

Neji fought back the urge to punch him.

" No, that's fine."

Tenten stared hard at him.

" One more minute then? " she asked.  
" One more minute. But then, we have to leave." He replied.  
" Ok…"

Ino and Shikamaru soon joined them, just in time to hear the end of Gaara's story. Ino kept squealing, and Shikamaru looked at Neji like he was about to throw up.

" For God's sake, can't they see this guy's just a bunch of crap?" he muttered to Neji.  
" Aparently not."

At least Shikamaru had noticed too. It was only a matter of time till he found out about the fake French accent.

A minute later the story had finished – finally – and Tenten and him were getting ready to go. They were about to go through the school gates when Gaara ran up to them, turned to Tenten, and slowly kissed her on the cheek. She blushed about ten shades of red.

Neji stared at him dumbfounded. WTF?!

" Iz a French thing, he explained, iz 'ow we say goodbye."

She giggled lightly and touched her face. 

She was about to answer when Neji grabbed her hand and dragged her away. He knew that he had only done that to piss him off, he knew that story had been fake, and, most painful of all, he knew that Tenten was falling for him.

He could see it, and it hurt.

" What's your problem?!" She screamed at him when he finally let go of her hand.  
" I told you I was in a hurry!" he screamed back.  
" Couldn't you have let me say goodbye at least??!"  
" According to what I saw, you already HAD !"

She stopped walking and stomped her foot.

" You know what, I'm sick and tired of this. You're my best friend, Neji. BEST FRIEND! And I'd think you'd be happy for me when somebody finally notices me! Why do you have to be so god damned over protective all the time? I'm a big girl now! I can take care of myself!!"

And she stormed away.

Neji just stood there, staring blankly after her. They had fought before, hell - they did it all the time. 

But this, this was different.

He knew what Gaara was up to, yet felt so powerless. He was hurt about the fact that she found him overprotective, he was hurt that he had made her so sad. He was hurt Gaara was doing something like this to a girl like Tenten, but what hurt him the most were those two words she had yelled so loud they had engraved themselves in his head.

Best friend. 

I'm sorry I haven't written in forever!  
I hope you liked it!

I have an idea in my head of what's gonna happen, but I'd still love to hear what you have to say about it and I'd definitely love suggestions . 


	7. Chapter 7

Walking home alone felt weird.

Tenten stomped into her house and threw her bag on the floor. She walked into the kitchen, grabbed a bowl of cereal, and was about to head towards the stairs when her mom, who had appeared out of nowhere, stopped her at the doorway of the kitchen with her spatula.

" What's wrong, Tenten?" she asked looking at her daughter's unhappy face.  
" Nothing, really. Bad day." She answered dismissively.  
" Oh really?, her mother said cocking an eyebrow, where's Neji then?"

Tenten glanced down at the floor.

" We got into a fight."  
" Oh…" her mother said understandingly. "Well then, I hope it gets better."  
" Yeah, Tenten muttered back, me too."

She got into her room and threw her bag onto her desk. She lay down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.

She didn't understand why he couldn't just be happy for her.

Gaara was nice, sweet, funny, interesting, and most of all the only guy who had ever looked at her that way.

She wasn't hot like Ino, pretty like Saukra, or cute like Hinata. Her hair didn't always stay in place and sometimes she wore giant baggy sweatshirts to school. She didn't have a body to die for and makeup made her look like a vampire.

Pookie jumped onto her bed and came to lie down beside her. She turned her head to look at him and her eyes were drawn to a picture on her dresser.

It was her and all her friends, toppled over each other under the tree near the school gates. Naruto was on top of the pile, laughing hysterically, accompanied by Kiba who's foot was in Sasuke's face. Ino was standing on Choji's shoulders, flicking her long blond hair in the wind while Shikamaru , who was next to her, was staring up at the clouds. Rock Lee was hanging upside down from the tree giving the thumbs up at Shino who was squatting down on the floor. Hinata, the only person actually looking at the camera, was on the far left side of the picture.

And finally, her and Neji. They were standing right smack in the center. His arms were wrapped around her stomach and even though she was laughing her head off – which usually made him sweatdrop – he was actually smiling.

She stared hard at the picture and pouted.

" Well, she thought to herself, nothing a little music can't fix!"

She got up, went over to her computer, logged onto her Itunes and blasted on the newest Jimmy Eat World song.

She danced around a bit, when suddenly she slipped on a piece of paper and fell to the floor. She blew her hair out of her face and picked it up.

Her jaw dropped.

The ski trip.

She had totally forgotten. They were leaving tomorrow!

She was about to jump into Neji's room when she remembered the fight.

She grabbed her cell phone and speed dialed Sakura, who was already packing her things.

" SAKURA!! What are we supposed to bring?!?" she yelled into the phone.

There was a moment of silence.

" Tenten, my ears. Look, just bring some warm clothes, pjs, and some skiing stuff. Same as usual. No reason to freak out."

" Ok…I can do that." She answered.  
" By the way, Sakura added, what's the deal with Gaara? Are you two going out or something?"

Tenten hesitated for a moment and looked over at Neji's window.

" Yeah…I guess you could put it that way."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh, the joys of waking up at five in the morning. Isn't it just lovely?

Neji groaned and dragged himself out of bed. He could already hear music coming from Tenten's room, and even though her curtains were closed he could see her shadow hopping around the room and kicking random objects.

Ahh…the kung fu fighting mood. 

He grabbed the bag he had already packed up the night before and headed downstairs. He wondered if they were going to go to school together.

" Probably not, he thought to himself, she hates me."

Just then, he heard honking coming from the street and when he opened the door found Tenten's mom's car right in front of his house.

" Hop in or you're gonna be late!" she yelled pointing to the backseat.

He made his way towards the car after bowing politely and took a seat next to Tenten.

She turned around, smiled at him, and threw her arms around his neck.

" I'm so sorry! She yelled, I didn't mean to get to mad at you!" 

His heart lifted and he hugged her back enthusiastically. He took a cookie she had handed him and bit into it happily.

" I mean, she continued, I can't have my best friend and boyfriend fighting all the time!" she jumped around in her seat.

Neji choked on the cookie and started to cough.

BOYFRIEND?!?! 

She gently pat his back as he spit cookie crumbs all over himself . They finally arrived to school and, after excusing himself to Tenten's mom, ran out of the car.

But it was too late, she had already gone up to Gaara and he was stroking her hand.

His heart dropped about fifteen feet.

While all the girls stood around them giggling, the guys came up to him and Sasuke pat his back sympathetically.

" Don't worry Hyuga, you're still her best friend. Besides, that guy's an asshole, it won't go far." 

Neji gulped.

Great, just great.

Just then, the bus came and out jumped an enthusiastic Gai.

" Ok, kids, now we're all gonna get in when I call your names, and prepare for the super awesome fun trip we're gonna have! Let me hear you say SKI!!"

The only one who answered was Rock Lee, who stood up on a bench and with his arms raised high belted out :  
" SKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"

" Dear God, Shikamaru said, he's finally gone mad."

One by one, they got onto the bus, until there was only Neji left. He walked down the rows and sat down next to Sasuke, who was staring out the window.

He turned back and saw Tenten sitting next to Hinata while Gaara - who was in the row behind - them played with her hair.

He bowed his head and took a seat.

" So, Sasuke said turning to him, are you ready for the four hour long bus ride?"

" Yeah, he muttered. I guess."

And even though everyone was talking and playing music, the only sound Neji could hear was Tenten laughing as Gaara whispered something in her ear. 


	8. Chapter 8

" Okay!" the man's voice boomed from the front of the bus, " We're here! "

There was a loud cheer as everyone in the bus clapped their hands.

Neji shook Sasuke who woke up, quickly composed himself, and wiped the line of drool off his face. Hey, he _is_ human after all.

Everyone clambered out of the bus and huddled in a circle near the luggage door. Neji looked around at the scenery in awe. There were three giant cabin-like hotels surrounded by trees, each about four storeys high with balconies on each of the windows. There was a little river near the beginning of the forest and on the other side of the bridge they could see a little town.  
The whole of it was surrounded by snow covered mountains and clear blue skies.

Tenten ran up to him and jumped into his arms.

" Nejiiiiiiiiiiiiii!! Isn't it beautiful??" she said snuggling her face into his hair.

He was about to answer when a snowball flew right by his hear right smack on the back of an unsuspecting Kiba's head. Kiba slowly turned around to find himself face to face with Naruto, who was rolling on the floor laughing.

Before he could do anything, Sakura took this opportunity to walk over to her little blond friend and sit on his stomach.

" Sakuraaa!! Get off of me! I can't breathe! " he squirmed and tried to push her off.

She rolled her eyes and pretended she couldn't hear him.

" Now now kids settle down" Gai said, finally coming out of the bus with a smile plastered on his face. " Now I'm gonna ask everyone to go grab their luggage. But first, I'm gonna give you your room numbers and go over a few of the basic rules. "

Everyone nodded their heads and Lee nudged a boy who was talking and gave him a death glare.

" First of all, we are here to ski, so everyone must attend their morning ski classes which will start at 10:30 sharp. Secondly, you may go into town but only during certain hours of the day, which will be given to you at dinner tonight. Thirdly, and most importantly, try to have fun and stay safe. Now, for the rooms! "

There crowd starting buzzing and Ino jumped around a few times.

" Kakashi, you do the honors."

Kakashi looked up from his book and sweatdropped.

" You're kidding me right?"

Gai looked at him frustratedly.

" No! You're not just here to go skiing and have a jolly good time like the students! You're here to be responsible." he added, emphasizing on the word.

" But aren't I already like watching over them at dinner?" he asked.

" There's gonna be more work than that!! "

" Dammit" he muttered grabbing the paper out of a frustrated Gai's hands. He skimmed down it quickly. " Ok, so for the girls. You'll all the staying in that lodge over there" he said pointing to the one nearest to the trees. He went through the list and finally arrived at thelast few names. " Which leaves Tenten, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata who will all be in room 437. Now for the boys..." 

As he started the next list, the guys watched as Ino, Sakura, Tenten, and Hinata grabbed their bags and made their way towards their lodge.  
Tenten smiled at Neji, who smiled back, then blew Gaara a kiss which made Neji glare at him.  
When she was gone, Neji caught sight of him and their eyes met. Gaara smirked proudly at Neji, who was interrupted when he heard his name. 

" Neji, Kiba, Sasuke,and Lee; you'll be in room 328. Naruto, Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, and Gaara you'll be in room 329. Now everybody has to go settle in, and we'll be meeting at 12:15 for lunch and to discuss the rest of the trip. Until then, good luck! "

The boys all made their way towards the cabin nearest the mountain slope, on the other side of what they were guessing was the Main Lodge.

They went up the little stairs up to the fourth floor and finally arrived at their rooms.

" Wow! This is awesome! I WANT THIS BED!!" They could hear Naruto yelling from the other room.

" Dear God, Sasuke said, thank God I'm not with him."

Neji thought with delight at the fact that Gaara was going to be spending a week living with Naruto.

They opened the door and all their jaws dropped.

The room was tiny, with two sets of moldy old bunkbeds and…was the blood on the wall??

Kiba and Lee both ran for their lives to the top bunks, with left Neji and Sasuke stuffed under them.

They put their bags down on their little beds and when they turned around, Sakura was in their room.

Kiba was about to scream when she ran up to him and covered his mouth with her hand.

" Shhhh! Think I wanna get caught?? Idiot!" 

He glared at her and stalked into the bathroom they were going to have to share with the room next door.

With Gaara. 

This should be fun…

" Sakura!, Lee whispered, what are you doing in here?"  
" Coming to see you guys, duh. There's a tree right outside your window. Thought it might be useful!"

She grinned and pat him on the shoulder.

" Damn, she muttered, this place sucks. Our rooms are so much nicer than this."

She started walking around, inspecting the room bit by bit. She finally stopped to pick a piece of paper off the floor and her shirt slid up her stomach.

She immediately lifted herself up, face bright red, and pulled it down.

" That's embarrassing… " she said laughing nervously.

Lee shielded his eyes, Kiba wasn't there – lucky for her – and Neji didn't really care. Sasuke…on the other hand…

Was blushing even redder.

" I-I-I gotta go" he muttered rushing into the other room.

" Okay….oh for God's sakes you can take your hand off your eyes now Lee!"

He slowly slid it away and glanced up to see Neji and Sakura staring back at him.

" LEE! GET IN HERE NOW! IT'S A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH!" they heard Naruto scream from the other room.

Lee sat up, winked at both of them ( making Sakura shudder in disgust ) then left for the room next door.

" So anyways" , Sakura said sitting down on the middle of the floor " Tenten told me about your fight. Do you want to talk about it?"

Please, did she know him at all?

" No." he answered stoically

She pouted her lip and was about to say something when her cell phone rang. She answered it and her face immediately lit up.

" Seriously? You're not screwing with me are you Tenten?"

" DID I JUST HEAR SAKURA SAY ' SCREWING ME ' IN THERE?? NEJI? HELLO??? " Neji heard Kiba yelling from the other room.

He sweatdropped.

" Ok yeah yeah. I'm coming back. Yes, immediately. Ok, I'll tell him. See ya."

She hung up.

" I gotta go." She said going to the window.

She climbed onto the tree.

" Oh and Tenten tells me to tell you that she still has your Mister…Fluffies?"

" Pillows." He corrected.  
" Yeah, she smiled, that thing."

She was about to close the window when she looked back up at him.

" You know, Neji, Tenten really likes Gaara. But…you know… if ever you liked her too… I think you should tell her."

" What makes you think I like her?" he asked indignantly.

" I don't know, she softly smiled, just the way you look at her I guess."

Then, she slid down the tree and was gone.

He sat down on his bed, thinking.

Him, liking Tenten?

That was ridiculous!

…Right? 


	9. Chapter 9

" This place smells like baking powder!" Naruto whined, looking around the room with a disgusted look on his face.

The dining hall was already pretty much full of people and the smell of rotten fish floated around the room like a disease. Kiba, who had been standing next to him, gagged.

" Must…get…out…of…here…" he said, grasping his throat and Sasuke glanced at him annoyedly.

" It's not that bad, is it?"

There was a silence.

" Ok fine, it's that bad."

They noticed that the girls were all huddled around a table towards the back of the room and started making their way towards them. Tenten waved at them, the empty seat to her right glinting in the sunlight.

Unfortunately, Neji wasn't the only one to see it : his eyes met with Gaara's, who seemed to be daring him to try something.

Neji accelerated, followed closely by his enemy who was so stuck to him he could feel him breathing down his neck.

The other boys, who had absolutely no idea why everyone was rushing all of a sudden, sped up too and everyone in the dining hall got to watch as they all crashed into each other.

Naruto stepped on Kiba's heel, who screamed and grabbed Shikamaru's hair, who rammed into Lee's back, who tripped Sasuke trying to gain his balance, who smashed right into Neji, sending him flying forwards.

Into Ino.

Or to be more precise : into her chest area.

She shoved him off, blushing profusely, and muttered something about " keeping your hormones under control." Neji's face fell when he realised that Gaara, who had magically escaped the crash landing, was now sitting next to Tenten, holding her hand and telling her another one of his fake stories.

He felt a bump on his forehead swelling. " This could not possibly get worse." he muttered to himself.

Just then the doors burst open and in walked Gai, followed by Kakashi and a tall, lanky guy with an Adam's apple the size of an egg.

" Hello, students! Now don't worry , the food will be coming shortly."

Everyone groaned.

" All right, let's get down to business. This is Steve, he's going to be the skiing instructor for this week. Now what I'm going to need you to do is raise your hand when I get to your ski level, ok? Now, if you'll all just listen to me closely for a minute. "

He grabbed a peice of paper out of Kakashi's hands and cleared his throat.

" If you are a beginner - that means you can't go over bumps or slopes that are too steep, you have a hard time controling your turns and your speed- you'll be spending the week with Kakashi over here. Now raise your hand if that applies to you."

Tenten was the first to raise her hand, followed by an embarassed looking Hinata and a few more kids in the class. Gaara looked around and raised his hand too.

" All right, I'll write all your names down on this peice of paper and we're good to go."

Neji saw Sakura raise her eyebrows at Gaara, then shake her head and look away. Their eyes met and she smirked at him. Neji just felt like punching something. Gaara could not _possibly _be bad at skiing, he was good at everything!

He was just doing this to hog Tenten! Stupid lying french freak-

" Now if you're an advanced skiier, which means you can do pretty much anything and have many years experience with the sport, you'll be spending this week with our lovely friend Steve over here!" Gai boomed, motioning to the person beside him.

Steve cleared his throat, obviously nervous, and his adam's apple rolled up and down like a tennis ball. His wandering eye zoomed out of orbit and got stuck on Ino, who shuddered and looked away in disgust.

Neji slapped his forehead. Great. Just great.

Not only was he going to spend a week with Steve over there, but he was going to spend it slopes away from Tenten and Gaara, who would be spending all day together with absolutely _no _supervision - they were with Kakashi for God's sakes!.

He raised his hand as Gai called out names.

He could already tell this week was going to be super fun.


End file.
